Scent-tracking K-9 finds missing boy with special needs during brutal North Carolina snowstorm
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Bo, a police K-9 trained in scent tracking, tracked the boy after he was given a piece of the boy's clothing.
PHOTO: GASTONIA POLICE DEPARTMENT/FACEBOOK
In an unforgiving snowstorm that erased footprints in minutes, a police dog tracked a scent that led to a frightened teen with special needs in central North Carolina.
The 13-year-old boy had walked away from his home without a coat on Jan 31, disappearing into what the police described as “dangerously cold and snowy conditions”.
By the time the authorities were called, temperatures had plunged and visibility had deteriorated.
Officers from the Gastonia Police Department, the Gaston County Sheriff’s Office and local emergency medical services fanned out around the neighbourhood, quickly forming a search perimeter in the dark.
At the centre of the search was Bo, a police K-9 trained in scent tracking.
Handlers gave the dog a piece of the boy’s clothing – known as a scent article – and Bo began moving through the snow, nose low, tracing a path invisible to the human eye.
“The child was at serious risk,” the police department said in a statement, noting that he had left home without proper clothing for the weather.
As Bo tracked through the storm, the boy reappeared within the secured perimeter and was spotted by emergency medical personnel.
He was cold but unharmed and was taken to safety.
Officials credited the outcome to coordination and speed but singled out the dog’s work in severe weather.
“This successful outcome was made possible by quick action, strong teamwork and the dedication of everyone involved, especially a snowy-snouted K-9 Bo,” the department wrote on social media.
One comment on a report about the incident by People magazine called Bo “the goodest boy”.
The rescue unfolded during a punishing stretch of winter weather. That day alone, Gastonia police responded to 32 vehicle crashes.
A day earlier, more than 50 vehicles were stranded on highways because of snow and ice, and officers handled at least 17 additional traffic incidents.
In one near-fatal episode, a truck driver leapt from his cab moments before a train slammed into his semi-truck at a crossing, an incident the police shared in a stark warning about road conditions.
